AUBURN -- Cayuga County Manager Wayne Allen released a tentative 2009 county budget proposal Thursday afternoon that would raise the overall tax levy by 4.5 percent.
The increased tax levy comes even as the county raised expenditures by a minimum, he said. The proposed total expenditures for 2009 are $139,122,767, up $1,107,054 from last year's $138,015,713. This is an increase of less than 1 percent.
"That's pretty remarkable right there and in this day and age, I have to give (credit to) department heads who understand the message that was given out that they needed to be fiscally prudent and justify what they were doing and hold the line and all costs ... they achieved that goal," Allen said.
The downside is that the county is losing revenues, he said. The 2008 total revenue, which excludes real property taxes, is $103,023,444. The total projected revenue for 2009 is $101,612,834, or a difference of $1,410,610, which equals to 1.14 percent.
The tentative tax levy for 2009 is $33,490,990, up $1,447,134 from 2008. The tax levy for 2008 was $32,043,856, putting the tentative increase from 2008 to 2009 at 4.52 percent.
The tentative tax levy for the 2008 budget was 5.8 percent, Allen said. The approved 2008 budget carried a 1.4 percent tax levy after revisions were made.
Allen explained that some reasons for the loss of revenue in the 2009 budget are a loss of sales tax revenue, a loss of interest from the fund balance and cuts in state and federal aid. The 2009 projected budget has $500,000 less in sales tax revenue than the 2008 budget.
"We're seeing a downward trend of sales tax revenue and that's part of the recession, part of the fiscal state of New York state government and business," Allen said.
Two key dates to keep in mind are Nov. 18 and Dec. 16, Allen said. The New York state Legislature will meet on the first date to address the budget deficit of 2009-2010 of $2 billion in November. This will have an impact on the 2009 and 2010 budgets, he said.
On the second date, Gov. David Paterson will release his tentative budget for 2009-2010 in December, which has a projected $12.5 billion deficit.
"That's pretty remarkable right there and in this day and age, I have to give (credit to) department heads who understand the message that was given out that they needed to be fiscally prudent and justify what they were doing and hold the line and all costs ... they achieved that goal," Allen said.
The downside is that the county is losing revenues, he said. The 2008 total revenue, which excludes real property taxes, is $103,023,444. The total projected revenue for 2009 is $101,612,834, or a difference of $1,410,610, which equals to 1.14 percent.
The tentative tax levy for 2009 is $33,490,990, up $1,447,134 from 2008. The tax levy for 2008 was $32,043,856, putting the tentative increase from 2008 to 2009 at 4.52 percent.
The tentative tax levy for the 2008 budget was 5.8 percent, Allen said. The approved 2008 budget carried a 1.4 percent tax levy after revisions were made.
Allen explained that some reasons for the loss of revenue in the 2009 budget are a loss of sales tax revenue, a loss of interest from the fund balance and cuts in state and federal aid. The 2009 projected budget has $500,000 less in sales tax revenue than the 2008 budget.
"We're seeing a downward trend of sales tax revenue and that's part of the recession, part of the fiscal state of New York state government and business," Allen said.
Two key dates to keep in mind are Nov. 18 and Dec. 16, Allen said. The New York state Legislature will meet on the first date to address the budget deficit of 2009-2010 of $2 billion in November. This will have an impact on the 2009 and 2010 budgets, he said.
On the second date, Gov. David Paterson will release his tentative budget for 2009-2010 in December, which has a projected $12.5 billion deficit.
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